Biophysics Undergraduate Major

Penn Biophysics
More about Biophysics Penn Faculty Penn Courses

***Biophysics Is

***a discipline that bridges and includes both the biological sciences and
the physical sciences. Biophysics is concerned with physical and chemical
explanations of living processes, especially at the cellular and molecular
levels. The past 20 years have witnessed a revolution in biological sciences,
and biophysics has played an important role in that revolution. Detailed
molecular descriptions are emerging for genetic elements and for the mechanisms
that control their propagation and expression. Protein structure, nucleic
acid structure, enzyme mechanisms, the phenomena underlying cellular behavior,
excitable phenomena in nerve, muscle, and visual cells, and integrative
neural phenomena all have been subject to intense biophysical study. Physicists
and other scientists with strong backgrounds in mathematics, chemistry,
and physics have played dominant roles in these developments; they will
continue to contribute as more detailed descriptions become available and
increasingly complex phenomena are studied.

The Penn Undergraduate Biophysics Major Is

designed to provide education in depth in the physical sciences in association
with an understanding of biological phenomena and problems, and to provide
the background necessary for understanding the sophisticated methods of
contemporary biophysical and biomedical research. The goal is to prepare
graduates who can go on for graduate or professional study, or who can enter
immediately into professional positions in biomedical research and development
and in biotechnology. The choices made by past biophysics majors reflect
the breadth of the major. Some have pursued doctoral study in areas of biological
research such a biophysics, biochemistry, chemistry, marine biology, molecular
biology, neurobiology, physics and physiology. Others have attended professional
schools in business, education, law, and medicine. The biophysics program
is best suited for students with keen interest and ability in the physical
sciences combined with the desire to explore fascinating and important topics
in the life sciences.